Mergers & Acquisitions is seeking nominations for our 19th Annual M&A Mid-Market Deals of the Year Awards. We will focus both on the deals and the players that made them happen – honoring the best of the middle market. Awards will go to the top deals of 2025, and honor all companies involved in the transaction including buyers, sellers, investment banks, law firms, accounting firms and other advisors to the deal.
Any party involved in the transaction may nominate their deal. To determine the winners, we are asking several questions on the nomination form. Please provide answers of 100-250 words in the nomination form itself. We will publish excerpts from the answers, so please make them publication-ready.
Nominations must be received no later than Friday, February 27, 2026.
What Makes a Winner?
The 2026 Mid-Market Deals of the Year Awards honor the transactions that set the gold standard for M&A. To determine the winners, we ask:
- How does this deal stand out from others?
- In what way is the deal pioneering or innovative?
- What does the buyer gain in the deal?
- How does the deal affect the sector the companies are in?
- What challenges did the deal overcome and how?
- How does the deal demonstrate leadership?
- Are there any “fun facts” that make the deal special?
For examples of past winners, please see:
Eligibility Requirements and Other Details:
- Transactions must have closed between 1/1/25 and 1/31/26.
- Deal value must be between $100M and roughly $1B. (Deals with undisclosed terms are also accepted.)
- The buyer and/or seller must be a U.S. company.
Nomination Process:
- There is no fee to submit a nomination.
- Nominations must be submitted through our electronic form only.
- Any firm involved in a deal can submit a nomination (i.e. banker, lawyer, lender, PE/strategic buyer or seller). Selected Deals of the Year will be named by the buyer, as well as the advisors associated with the deal.
- There is no limit to the number of nominations an individual or firm can nominate.
- On the nomination form, please provide only information that we may publish.
- Please do not use excerpts taken verbatim from marketing material and/or press releases as answers to the questions. This diminishes the nomination’s candidacy.
- We do not accept anonymous nominations or confidential information on the nomination form.
Timeline:
February 27: Nominations Due.
May 4: Winners will be announced on our website www.TheMiddleMarket.com.
A special report on these awards will also be published in the May/June 2026 issue of Mergers & Acquisitions.
All decisions are made by the editorial team of Mergers & Acquisitions. Please send comments and questions to: [email protected].
We look forward to receiving your nomination. Good luck to all the nominees!
